James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Jeffrey Lang, one of the great horn players of our time, did a dazzling rendition of the Mozart Horn Concerto last week at the Bard Performing Art Center in New York.

I knew I only had about 15 minutes to sketch his performance (it's a short piece), so I dove in with water-soluble colored pencils and brush pens, which I held discreetly in my left hand. I had all the stuff ready to go when the piece started so that I didn't have to dig around and break anyone's concentration.

4 comments:

Another stellar sketch. Heck, it's almost a disservice to call it a sketch (not that there's anything wrong with sketches). It's as much a work of bona fide fine art as an easel painting, except for the size...but I feel that way about any good "sketch", particularly the ones you share with us.

Was there much pencil drawing under the color to establish the forms? I see some angular marks near the shoulders, but not much else.

Thanks so much, Tom. I don't know where a sketch stops and a drawing begins. Or for that matter when a drawing end and a watercolor painting begins.

For this one, I did the initial lay-in drawing in a russet water-soluble colored pencil, which you can see around the edges. The figure is about 5 or 6 inches tall. The skin tones on the face are done with a brush that was already filled with that light red-brown color, kind of a shorthand for a skin tone.